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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26118832">what if</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/titaniumsansa/pseuds/titaniumsansa'>titaniumsansa</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Softer World [19]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A softer world - Freeform, Artemis Crock-centric, Bisexual Artemis Crock, Drabble, F/F, Feelings Realization, Friendship/Love, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Idiots in Love, Inspired By A Softer World, Oneshot, Other, POV Artemis Crock, Past Artemis Crock/Wally West, Prompt Fic, Prompt Fill, Therapy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:54:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>990</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26118832</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/titaniumsansa/pseuds/titaniumsansa</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Artemis has a realization. <br/>Set after the end of season two.</p><p>Based off a Softer World prompt. Snaibsel. All oneshots in the series are unrelated, can be read without reading those.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Artemis Crock/Therapy, Artemis Crock/Zatanna Zatara</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Softer World [19]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/796737</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>30</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>what if</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/gifts">sunkelles</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The prompt for this fic is:</p><p>"I called my therapist yesterday, in a panic. I said "what if the sky falls again?" and she said "well what if you fall in love?" (true dreams)</p><p>https://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=37</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Her therapist's name is Cassandra. Artemis loves her office in an office building on the outskirts of Gotham City limits. Each floor is a different business. The group Cassandra works for makes up the seventh floor of the brick and glass building. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When introducing herself, she said she was "grandma age" which was good enough for Artemis. Despite the tall bookshelves full of everything from the latest DSM to a book called "Hosea Globe and the fantastical peg-legged Chu", she doesn't know everything like her namesake. They both have names from Greek mythology but Cassandra doesn't pester her about it like most do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> The book about the horse globe is actually about a man and his dog trying to stop information on how to make twisters fall into the wrong hands, she's surprised to learn later. The bookshelves have medical books and fiction, so much fiction, filling them from top to bottom. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> The room is always dimly lit with electric lights with a long wall of window lighting the rest of it. She notices something new to fidget with each visit, one time it's a pillow with an embroidered tiger on it, the next it's a glass tray full of marbles, then a fake plant puzzle. It's not cluttered or full, it's just right. There are two couches and three chairs, one of which sits at the desk pressed for space between bookcases like an afterthought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> She calls what she does with the Team her </span>
  <em>
    <span>job</span>
  </em>
  <span> because it's much easier than the truth. It is calming to see Cassandra on an every other week basis, know that she's going to drink tea, and see a different shawl draped around her favorite old person. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sometimes she'll bring tea or a different drink that "</span>
  <em>
    <span>must have caffeine because how else is she going to keep up with the young people" </span>
  </em>
  <span>for Cassandra. Artemis knows her therapist would deny it but she does have a secret soft spot for the brightly colored drinks she brings sometimes from Starbucks. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> Things went to shit when Wally died. The first therapist she went to after his death was too soft. Understood the appeal of crying on the floor and didn't help with the healing process. Her office smelled like too many Glade plugins and stale coffee. The second was too aggressively angry and talked more about Texas and Sucess brand rice than he did about the grieving process. Cassandra was the third and lucky charm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> The last time she saw Cassandra, "</span>
  <em>
    <span>I always go by my full name</span>
  </em>
  
  <em>
    <span>because Cass is the nickname of a young person", </span>
  </em>
  <span>she gave her a copy of the last Shirley Jackson book she read. The visit before that was a variant cover of Inkheart she'd liked the best but couldn't find in Gotham. </span>
</p><p>
  <span> Another lovely thing about Cassandra is she always answers her phone. Her pulse is going a million miles an hour and she couldn't get her seatbelt on as the thought hit and she had to call.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "What if the sky falls down again?" Artemis asks, panicked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "Well, what if you fall in love?" Cassandra replies.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "I did. I think I did, I think I'm in love with Zee," Artemis blurts. She is thankful she kept the code names for the Team easy to remember or as nicknames.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "Then you're in love with her," Cassandra says. Artemis sighs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "What if she dies? What if the world almost ends again?" Artemis wonders.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "The Justice League always stops that sort of thing. And we all die. You can't live it in love with someone and never tell them. It's not fair to either of you. And you'll both die. I'll die someday. But wouldn't it be more exciting and worthwhile to live while you're alive?" Cassandra suggests.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "I hate it when you're right," Artemis tells her. Cassandra chuckles on the other end of the phone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "I'll see you Thursday," she promises before she hangs up.</span>
</p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span> Telling Zatanna seems harder than it should be. She'd like to do it before Thursday so she can celebrate or mope with Cassandra. With her Vegas schedule and her time with the League, Zatanna takes a day to respond to her text asking to get together. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I'm free for lunch today. Meet me at this address at 11.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> The restaurant looks like a textbook on decorating with Art Deco but Artemis manages to find Zatanna with ease.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "They have an insanely good vegetarian menu here. I think you're gonna love this place," Zatanna informs her. Artemis relaxes into the purple velvet booth they're in, looking over the menu.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Live while you're alive.</span>
  </em>
  <span> The words echo in her head as Zatanna discusses the daily specials with their waiter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "I'll have a peach lemonade," Artemis says when he turns to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "I'll give you two some time to look over the menu," he says. Zatanna thanks him before she turns back to face Artemis.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "What did you need to talk about?" she asks. Artemis won't be able to describe it completely later to Cassandra, because her mind just blanks. The words fall out and she's only aware she's said what's on her mind when Zatanna raises her eyebrows. Her heart begins to sink when Zatanna puts her hand on her face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "I've been flirting with you for the last year and a half. Did you really not pick up on any of it?" Zatanna wonders.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Artemis thinks of the dinners, the sleepovers, the breakfasts, the promise of tickets to whatever show of Zatanna's she could make it to, and the way they always clear their schedules for each other. The face of Zatanna's stage manager when she always arrived with flowers for her favorite magician, the quirk of Black Canary's eyebrows whenever she mentioned Zatanna and the way even Ollie made a teasing face at her too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "Oh my god," Artemis mumbles. Zatanna laughs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> "It's okay. I'm just glad we're on the same page now," she grins.</span>
</p>
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